Man loses 3 billion after phone call.
After transferring money to the account of someone claiming to be a criminal police officer to prove his innocence, Mr. Huynh was unable to contact them again.
On September 24, Ho Chi Minh City police, in coordination with District 5, verified numerous bank accounts to investigate the case of Mr. Huynh (49 years old) who was scammed out of 3 billion VND by someone claiming to be a Hanoi police officer.
According to the report, Mr. Huynh received a phone call from a young man who identified himself as Lieutenant Lam Thanh Trung, working at the Criminal Police Department of the Hanoi Police. Seeing that the caller provided quite clear personal information, and after verifying that the phone number belonged to the Hanoi Police, Mr. Huynh believed it was a real police officer.
In a subsequent call, the young man claimed that Mr. Huynh was involved in some activities of a money laundering criminal gang, demanding that he provide multiple bank accounts and amounts of money for verification, otherwise he would be arrested. Mr. Huynh was frightened and explained that his money was legitimate, but the man became angry and refused to accept his explanation.
The person claiming to be a criminal police officer asked Mr. Huynh to transfer all his money to a "secure account of the investigative agency." They said that after the review, if it was determined that his money was not linked to a criminal gang, it would be returned.
Mr. Huynh went to banks on Tran Hung Dao and Ta Quang Buu streets (District 5) twice and transferred a total of 3 billion VND to the account number given by the "lieutenant". After waiting a long time without receiving the money back from the investigating agency, the victim tried calling again but couldn't get through, so he reported the incident to the police.
The police in District 5 have identified the bank accounts that received money from Mr. Huynh as belonging to Pham Van Nam and Bui Thi Loan. The investigating agency is coordinating with banks to verify the identities and apprehend the fraudsters.
Previously, the Ho Chi Minh City Police had repeatedly warned provinces and cities about phone scams. These gangs, led by foreigners and colluding with some Vietnamese individuals, specialize in impersonating police officers or prosecutors, calling people's homes, threatening them with involvement in crimes, and demanding money for verification before stealing it.
The phone numbers displayed to the listener, claiming to belong to the Ministry of Public Security, the Procuratorate, etc., were faked using advanced technology.
